House Cuts "Anti-Drug" Ad Budget

SSDP is generating success in the effort to fight back against the federal government’s Drug War attacks on youth. The U.S.. House of Representatives recently cut $6 million from the budget for Office of National Drug Control Policy’s infamous “anti-drug” propaganda advertising campaign aimed at young people.

You know the ads we’re talking about: the ones that claim that if you smoke marijuana you’ll stick your fist in your mouth, shoot your friend in the face, run over little girls on bikes, and become pregnant. The latest ad even claims that your girlfriend will break up with you and run away with a space alien. Really.

Responding to federally-funded research showing the ridiculous ads to be ineffective at best, the House has recommended cutting the budget for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to $93 million in 2008, down from this year’s $99 million. The allocation is considerably less than the $130 million President Bush had requested.

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, expressed concern over the ads’ ineffectiveness, citing studies that SSDP has worked to publicize on Capitol Hill. “This mark rejects the 31 percent increase to the National Youth Anti-drug Media Campaign requested in the President’s budget,” said Chairman Serrano.

He continued, “Recent studies have called into question the effectiveness of the Campaign, and it does not make any sense to give this program the substantial increase requested in light of these questions.”

SSDP is working closely with allies at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) to convince Congress to completely defund the ads, and decision makers on Capitol Hill slowly seem to be getting the picture. The $93 million in funding that the House has recommended for 2008 is less than half of what was allocated for the campaign when it was first created in 1998. While a total of more than $1.5 billion has been spent on the ads, Congress is clearly frustrated with ONDCP and has continued to cut funding year after year.

In addition to being criticized by drug policy reformers and independent scientific studies, the campaign has also been condemned by the White House’s own Office of Management and Budget, which scored the program just six out of 100 for results and accountability.

“It’s no surprise that research repeatedly shows these ads to foster a negative reaction in teens,” said Kris Krane, SSDP’s executive director. “Young people want to know the truth about drugs and the real risks of drug abuse. But when the government makes absurd claims in ridiculous propaganda ads, it offends young people and turns us off to the overall message.”

You can take action against the ads by visiting http://www.ssdp.org/ads/ and entering your contact information. A letter will be sent directly to your legislators, urging them to stop spending your money on anti-youth propaganda.

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